8. Hindsight...

...at the outset of the Kosovo campaign, I recall many critics, right and left, who claimed Clinton had no clear objective and that the Tito-era missile defense systems and mountainous terrain would be a graveyard for any attacker/invader. While a paper tiger, the Russians still can play spoiler in these states and have...protecting Assad with weaponry that's being used on his own people, just like Milosevic used Russian weapons against the Bosnians, Croatians and Kosovars.

That said...I agree that missile strikes alone won't knock out Assad and may even embolden him. I don't favor unilateral U.S. action here...this is an international matter...